As we look towards Grand Theft Auto 6, we have to face the facts: open-world games have come a long way since the days of GTA 5. Historically, GTA‘s approach to open worlds has been hit-or-miss: the brilliance of San Andreas contrasts with the emptiness of GTA 5.

GTA 6 will need to improve, and while what Rockstar has told us about its map so far is pretty impressive, we really haven’t seen very much of it for ourselves. Hopefully, GTA 6 takes inspiration from all the great open-world games that have come before it, incorporating new mechanics like these.

10

GTA 6 Needs Red Dead-Style NPC Interaction

Greet, Greet, Antagonize

An interesting feature for GTA 6 would be more involved NPC interaction. In GTA 5, your only real option for interacting with the people who inhabit its world is attacking them – there’s no way to talk with any of them, unless they’re part of a mission.

Of course, a Red Dead-style morality system wouldn’t fit GTA‘s tone perfectly. But still, I’d like to see a little more of a dialogue system in the upcoming sequel, even if it’s just a choice between two options, as it often is in RDR2.

This would increase the general interactivity of the world. That’d have the added effect of making GTA 6 feel more alive, and its NPCs less like blank slates for you to play with.

9

GTA 6 Needs More Offroad Traversal Options

Think BOTW’s Climbing

Also potentially interesting in GTA 6 would be more options for offroad traversal. The lack of ways to get around, other than by car or on foot, was a problem in GTA 5: exploring anything outside its city streets was boring, even frustrating.

One way to resolve that in GTA 6 would be to make wilderness exploration more challenging, perhaps with a Zelda: Breath of the Wild-inspired stamina system that forces players to manage resources and plan routes carefully.

This would make it a lot more interesting to explore what’s outside Vice City. It could also be a mode of progression, allowing players to upgrade their stamina as the game goes on, eventually making it scale inclines or trudge through swamps.

8

GTA 6 Could Be Even More Of A Sandbox

Building On A Foundation

Custom Image by Katarina Cimbaljevic

Apart from its story, GTA has always been known as a sandbox game: it gives players a variety of tools (weapons, cars, et cetera) and a massive testing ground on which to use them. It’s basically the entire premise of the postgame, and the appeal of GTA Online.

But GTA 6 could really build on these sandbox features in a number of ways. Perhaps more varied combat abilities – similar to post 2.0 Cyberpunk – could expand the player’s options. Even a rudimentary building system akin to Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom would be interesting, and would certainly breathe new life into Online.

What’s far more likely, though, is a new suite of life sim options, not unlike RDR2‘s. Weight gain, muscle building, hair growth – all are likely to make GTA 6 a more realistic simulacrum of real life.

7

GTA 6 Needs To Flesh Out Its Strangers & Freaks

RDR2-Style Storylines

Another lesson I’d like to see GTA 6 take from RDR2 is its approach to Strangers missions (or Strangers and Freaks, as GTA calls them). Both games have a similar system: wander around the world, and you’ll occasionally encounter a quest-giving NPC who’ll send you on a short mission.

These are always useful diversions from the main story, and serve to flesh out the world with ironic commentary and over-the-top humor, at least in GTA. But they could be even more if they drew from RDR2‘s far-flung Stranger missions, many of which have excellent story arcs of their own.

Honestly, I wouldn’t even mind a collect-a-thon or two in GTA 6, as long as they were fun to find and meaningfully tied to an interesting sidequest.

6

GTA 6 Needs Spontaneous World Events

Not Just Strangers

It’d be really wonderful to see more spontaneous, random world events going on in GTA 6 – and I don’t just mean running into Strangers. Think more like huge traffic jams on major arteries at the end of the workday, fights erupting at bars, parades causing streets to close down.

Much like interactive NPCs, this helps make the world of a game feel more alive, reminding us that it exists outside of our input. It’d also create some interesting friction, perhaps forcing a player to evade police on foot, or reroute their drive away from the busiest parts of town.

This exists to some extent in earlier GTA games, but they feel a little forced and sporadic. GTA 6 could build on world events as they exist in the franchise to create a much more interesting open world.

5

GTA 6 Needs More Dynamic Weather

It’s Florida, After All

GTA games usually include some kind of dynamic weather system: sometimes it’s sunny, sometimes it rains, and, during holiday events, it snows. In GTA 5, this affects how much traction cars get on the road, forcing you to be mindful of your driving.

GTA 6 could take this to new heights. Florida is known for its capricious weather patterns: a beautiful, sunny day might turn into a downpour in a matter of minutes. Hopefully, Leonida takes inspiration from that for a more chaotic dynamic weather system.

This could also affect gameplay in a wider variety of ways. Instead of just altering traction, maybe rain could muffle the player’s footsteps à la BOTW, or darkness could make it easier for them to sneak around.

4

GTA 6 Could Benefit From Destructible Environments

Carving A Path

Destructible environments would add a lot to GTA 6. Think Battlefield-style: smashing out buildings with rocket launchers, sending them crashing down and rubble spreading throughout the streets.

Destructible environments are a major part of many sandbox games, so why not GTA? It’d lend a lot of credence to the carnage that players inflict, and would allow them to develop unique combat strategies.

Of course, it’d be a little unusual to destroy a building, then return the next day to find it already rebuilt. Even so, I think most players will be willing to suspend their disbelief for the cool factor on this one.

3

GTA 6 Needs Multiple Urban Environments

Like San Andreas

Another potential solution to GTA 5‘s urban woes is for GTA 6 to include a lot less wilderness. The fact of the matter is that GTA is not a game about exploring the great outdoors. It’s always been about city life.

GTA thrives when there are lots of NPCs around, lots of cars to steal. However, its urban environments should be sufficiently diverse, each different from the last, in order to keep things interesting.

The wilderness has some place in GTA 6: I’m especially excited to ride a fanboat through its recreation of the Everglades. But it shouldn’t be a significant portion of the map, and should remain far from most other content.

2

GTA 6 Needs More Explorable Interiors

No More Empty Storefronts

It’s been said about a million times by now, but GTA 6 really needs to expand the number of explorable interiors. I know we’ll probably never see a GTA game where you can enter every single building on the map, but there has to be a happy medium.

In GTA 5, you could really only enter the occasional building; most were just JPEG facades, giving the illusion of life. You wouldn’t notice this much while driving past them, but if you decided to explore the city on foot, it’d strike you just how empty most of its structures really were.

In GTA 6, we should be able to enter a much wider variety of buildings all over the map, perhaps a bit more like Cyberpunk. Even if they’re almost totally empty, just being able to see what’s inside of them would make its map significantly bigger.

1

GTA 6 Should Be Full Of Secrets & Urban Legends

More Myths, Please

Since San Andreas popularized the concept, myths and urban legends have become a major part of GTA. Mysterious graffiti, aliens, Bigfoot, et cetera – these things are a lot of fun to seek out, and bring some humor to its portrayal of America.

These things have become a little less exciting in the age of the internet. Now, as soon as one player finds a strange happening in a game, they post it online for millions of others to replicate, while dataminers hunt down the exact line of code that makes it happen.

Even so, I’d really like to see a nice collection of strange, random events that are hard to trigger, not unlike in RDR2. Hunting these things down is my favorite thing to do in open-world games, and I look forward to doing it in Grand Theft Auto 6.

Grand Theft Auto 6

Released

May 26, 2026

Engine

Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE)

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer

Steam Deck Compatibility

yes

Xbox Series X|S Release Date

May 26, 2026